Gold Rises as Dollar Drops; Platinum Gains on Supply Woes

                    Gold futures rose as the dollar’s decline boosted demand for the metal as an alternative investment. Platinum climbed on South African supply concerns amid labor turmoil.

The greenback snapped the longest rally since May against a basket of 10 currencies. Sales of American Eagle gold coins by the U.S. Mint this year surpassed the total for all of 2012, data on the mint’s website showed on Nov. 1.

“The dollar’s weakness is supporting gold,” Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist at Archer Financial Services Inc. in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “There are some people who are still stocking up on physical gold.”

Gold futures for December delivery rose 0.4 percent to $1,318.50 at 10:48 a.m. on the Comex inNew York. On Nov. 1, the price touched $1,305.60, the lowest for a most-active contract since Oct. 17.

Through Nov. 1, gold tumbled 22 percent this year, heading for the first annual drop since 2000. Some investors lost faith in the metal amid a rally in U.S. equities and low inflation.

Silver futures for December delivery fell 0.1 percent to $21.825 an ounce on the Comex. Earlier, the price touched $21.61, the lowest since Oct. 17.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, platinum futures for January delivery increased 0.1 percent to $1,454 an ounce. The price climbed 2.5 percent in October.

South Africa’s National Union of Mineworkers began a strike yesterday over wages at Northam Platinum Ltd. The company proposed a meeting tomorrow with workers.

Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the owner of the world’s largest mine, said today that first-quarter output dropped 17 percent. - bloomberg.com